Time Capsule
by Lugian Before Swine
Summary: Childhood AU: Vince discovers a time capsule, and it leads to an even better discovery. Howard/Vince, pretty much pure fluff. Oneshot, safety rating because I'm paranoid. This is also over on LJ.


**A/N: This is my first Boosh fic! This idea had been chilling in my brain for about a month and I'm glad it's finally in a better form. I plan to write more Boosh stuff soon instead of just lurking around the fandom, so I hope my characterizations and such will improve. At any rate, I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned the Boosh there would be gratuitous snogging in every episode. Sadly, this is not the case.**

Howard has walked the garden path to Vince's house many, many times. His nine-year-old brain has gone through and presented him with every walk modification it can think of, and last month that included skipping backwards with his eyes closed. So today, being completely out of ideas, he simply walks. Boring but efficient.

Halfway up the path, he sees Vince's face pop up in a second-story window, grinning down and him and making 'hurry-up' motions with his hand. Howard isn't one to make Vince wait, so he jogs up the remaining path to the house and enters without knocking.

To the right, Vince's mother is sitting on the sofa reading a magazine. She looks up and says, "Oh, hello Howard." He waves and is about to say something back, but Vince appears at the top of the staircase. "C'mere!" And then he turns and disappears into his room.

Howard grins and races up the stairs, turning into Vince's room to find him lying on the floor, surrounded by what appears to be random junk. Howard has a good eye (and knowledge of Vince), though, so he knows each one of these things could be a precious treasure.

Vince is holding an unmarked CD in one hand and a stuffed bear in the other. "Look at this," he says, smiling, holding them out to Howard, who settles across from him on the floor.

Howard takes the items from Vince and says, "Where'd you get these?" They look ordinary to him, but knowing Vince, there's probably a fantastic story behind them.

Vince doesn't disappoint. "I was digging around at the park—some old man was yelling at me, but I pretended I was deaf. I was well convincing, too, he just said 'sorry' and walked away. Anyway—"

Howard startes laughing. It's probably not the right time in the story to laugh, but Vince is so enthusiastic it's kind of funny.

Vince blows fringe out of his eyes and says, "What?"

Howard shrugs and keeps on with his spastic giggling. Vince grins but quickly continues his story. "So I dug this hole and I hit something big. So I kept digging and eventually—" he pauses for dramatic effect—"I found _this_." He reaches behind him to pick up a plastic shoebox with a lid that clicks closed. Howard stops laughing and starts staring. This was a good discovery.

"I think it's a _time capsule_," Vince says reverently. They read a book that involved a time capsule in school earlier in the year. Vince and Howard had even put one together, buried it and everything, but had gotten so impatient they had dug it up a week later.

Howard drops the CD and bear and reaches to take the box from Vince. Vince sits up and hands it to him with a sort of awe and caution. This is someone else's life they've dug into, and despite being young, they can understand the gravity of it. Howard takes the box and unclicks the lid.

Inside, there's a flower petal pressed between two sheets of wax paper, and attached to it is a short note, written on yellowing paper.

Vince slides across the floor so he's sitting next to Howard. He smiles. "Let's read it." He takes the letter from the box and unfolds it. Howard sets the box on the floor and leans over to read the letter.

The name of the person it was written to had been scratched out. The sender was 'Samantha' and the letter read:

_Let me be brief. I know you won't receive this for a long time, and I did this on purpose. I feel _(there was a smudge that blocked the words) _and know this is for the best. When I return to open this, I'll rethink my decision and hope you'll rethink yours._

"Wow," Howard says.

Vince nods, but he's not smiling anymore. He looks sadder, older, Howard thinks.

"He got with someone else," Vince says suddenly. "And she still loved him, but she left because she thought she couldn't change his mind." Howard gapes at him, stunned. How could Vince get all that meaning from a short letter? But he certainly seemed confident in his analysis.

"Howard," Vince says.

"Huh?" Howard says, turning to look at him.

A second after the turn, he feels arms around his middle and hair in his face. "Vince?" he asks, concerned.

"You can't ever leave me, okay?" Vince says into Howard's neck.

Howard blinks, catching up, and then nods. "'Course I won't," he says. "I won't leave you."

Vince lifts his head and looks Howard in the eyes, smiling. "Thanks," he says simply.

"Yeah," Howard says, and then Vince leans in and presses a kiss to his cheek.

Howard doesn't have to look in a mirror to know he's turned fifty shades of pinks and reds. Vince looks at his face and laughs, but it's not a mean, uncaring sound, it's an understanding sound, and Howard looks down and puts his hands in his lap, smiling despite the embarassment.

Vince grabs one of Howard's hands and tugs it until they're both standing. "C'mon, let's go to the park," Vince says, and he keeps hold of Howard's hand all the way downstairs and out onto the street.

And soon enough, Howard finds that he's holding on just as tightly.


End file.
